ACADIA PARISH, La. (KLFY) — As Hurricane Francine is getting closer to making landfall, city and parish shelters are having to make tough decisions. A Facebook post from Friends of Pounds Pets in Acadiana urged for their animals to be rescued due to the risk of being euthanized before the storm.
The mayday call gathered a lot of attention. News 10 received an update of great news and cleared the confusion with both locations.
Madilyn Thibodeaux, an Animal Control Officer at Acadia Parish Shelter, said the shelter is always at full capacity.
“We’ve had some dogs here a little longer off hold, so they were already in euthanasia danger. We try to push their time as much as we can. And then with the storm coming, we fill up even more. We had a neglect case called, so I had to remove animals from there,” she said.
She said the shelter’s main issue was not knowing if the shelter would flood, causing animals to suffer and possibly drown.
Did your grocery store carry recalled Boar’s Head deli meat? How you can check “The only reason we did a euthanasia post was for the ones that were off-hold. We had nowhere for them to go. At the time our only option was to euthanize instead of just wondering. We’re not going to take the chance to let them suffer and drown in the midst of a storm. So we wanted them to be safe either way possible. So that’s why that post was made for them,” she said.
Overwhelmed with emotions Thibodeaux expressed how the last 48 hours have been the hardest in her career.
“We fight every day to save these dogs and we have pleaded so much to find temporary fosters anywhere for them to stay safe so they wouldn’t be put down and we have gotten a miracle from God to have placement for every single dog and two cats,” she said.
She said that all animals will be safe during this storm, noting that even some of the animals have been officially tagged for rescue and are not coming back. Others have been pulled for fostering with the possibility of adoption.
“So we are now emptying the shelter for now and trying to get through this storm and hopefully, it doesn’t hit as bad,” she said.
Samantha Granger, also an Acadia Parish animal control officer, said she is thankful for the advocates and rescuers who “basically pull[ed] a miracle out of a hat” in order to help the animals.
Crowley Mayor Chad Monceaux said the city’s animal shelters and the Acadia Parish Animal Shelter are both within city limits, which can cause confusion for some.
Man’s body found day after ATV crash in Clay County The mayor said that the city’s animal shelters are full and have been for a while. He said the process of euthanizing dogs that are currently at the city shelters have nothing to do with the storm.
“[It] just so happens the storm is coming at the same time,” he said.
He said the shelter had 24 dogs and 90% of them are pit bulls. He explained how some of those dogs have been in the shelter for 30 to 90 days and they have issues getting them adopted into homes.
“We have to make tough decisions and there’s no other option for these animals that are left out by the people just to survive on their own,” the mayor said. He noted that he has two dogs of his own.
“It’s not easy to think about animal control having to make that decision and going forward with euthanizing these dogs but it’s something that has to be done and unfortunately, it’s a problem that we have here in Crowley,” he said.
He said the city shelter is not closing. They are not trying to get rid of animals before the storm and they will continue to operate.
“We’re going to continue to do what we have to do and move forward as we normally do. The storm is not going to be as bad as it originally was thought to be in our area, thankfully,” he said.
Overall, the goal is to get the animals at both locations into their forever homes despite both being a kill-shelter.
Workers with the city shelter said all of their animals, besides three dogs due to their behavioral issues and the animal’s safety, have been either rescued, fostered, or are being held at a veterinary clinic until the hurricane passes.
If you are interested in fostering call City Hall, at 337-788-4100. If you want to foster animals at the Parish location call 337-788-1073.
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